The Worm
by Chackran
Summary: Zebes has fallen for the second time. the mother brain is dead. And now, months later, the one the Chozo called The Worm has risen anew. And now an old nemesis must join forces with Samus Aran if there is any hope in stopping it.
1. Warning

Disclaimer: all right's to Metroid reserved to nintendo all right's to Samus Aran reserved to nintendo all right's to Ridley reserved to nintendo Blah. Blah. Blah.  
  
*Author's Notes: All right. here it is: my first fan fic. I never thought I would be doing this. to tell the truth, I just had a creative click in my brain and randomly started writing this. please R&R. send all criticism, flames and, godwilling, praises to me via e-mail. I'll gladly read them all. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy it. and sorry for any typos, I'm too lazy to spell check.  
  
The Warning  
  
A face in the darkness. Familiar, but foreign at the same time. is it a face? or is it a symbol? a signal? a warning of things to come. it seems to have an aura, like a blur given to the air by heat, surrounds it. The Face is black, very black, if it wasn't for the aura, it wouldn't be seen at all. it looks as if it is alive, but it looks metallic. What is it? And then, after what seems like hours, a voice is heard, a voice that pierces the soul with a sound like a frozen nail. it speaks:  
"That which is linked to the soul of the reborn shall not be permitted to survive." there is a long pause. "I am coming, and my ascendance will hail the ascendance of Kabraxis, And all shall succumb to the wrath and the fury, of the Worm."  
  
Samus Aran woke screaming. she had no idea where she was or even why she was screaming as if Death itself had touched her in her sleep-wait. Death did touch her, she realized. and slowly, her dream began to come back to her. The face, the voice, the...the prophecy, whatever the hell it meant. She decided it would be safer to not disregard that dream as a normal dream, but for now, since she would not be able to travel back to the vicinity of the land of sleep she thought she may as wake up fully. She checked her clock by her bed; 05:37. Jesus, I haven't been awake this early for months. She turned on the light and suffered the momentary discomfort known to those used to the dark and made her way to the bathroom. After she had washed up and got dressed she walked to the command deck.  
"It still amazes me how enormous this place is," she said aloud to herself, as she does frequently. Samus now resides in an unusually well- armed class III Blade Freighter. And while it is easily not the biggest ship in the galaxy, it will do wonders to the person accustomed to living an a relatively small gun ship. The ship's name when it was given to her was Archon and she decided to keep it because she didn't want to go through all the red tape in order to get the name reregistered under a different title. The ship was given to her by the galactic federation, or GF after the second war on Zebes "in case the need should arise for you to defend yourself." However, she knew that it was more of a present for her services to the galaxy than for her protection.  
It was now seven months since the last mission, the so-called "Zebes War II," that resulted in the death of the mother brain, and the metroid hatchling which Samus was beginning to grow a bond with. She left Ridley the fire dragon out of her mental obituary because he simply never dies. She figured that he faked his death somehow and is living it up on some molten planet quite smug with himself for being excused of all charges on account of his "death." Samus stopped herself quickly, she often got carried away in her bitterness and hatred for the skeletal beast. She had been living on her freighter for the past seven months cut off from civilization. She was tired of people and living things in general. Samus was spending her time in the Delta quadrant of the galaxy. Devoid of intelligent life, it is the wasteland of the galaxy. She was enjoying the solitude so much that it began to frighten her. The Hunter often thought she would turn into a hermit if she kept this isolation up.  
  
The alarms sounded. The alarms on her ship sound for only two reasons: 1. There is a major problem concerning the ship. 2. The Galactic Federation has been threatened by attack.  
"What's the problem?" Samus shouted.  
"A fully hostile Clectian Transport freighter is attacking GF Flag ship," Chimed the ship's synthetic AI voice.  
"Do you have it's coordinates?"  
"Affirmative"  
"Set a coarse to it's location immediately!"  
"Affirmative"  
"And stop saying "affirmative" to everything I say!"  
"Affirmative"  
  
**********************************************  
  
Jack Owens quickly got dressed and threw on his body armor and loaded his assault rifle and pistol ran out to see what the hell was going on. When he stepped out of his quarters he found the corridors of the GF flagship Corona completely deserted. What in the name of god? He thought. He attempted to take a step and nearly slipped. The floor was wet and slippery, and as Owens noticed this he looked down only to see that he was standing in a pool of dark blood. Before he could even scream Owens saw something else that was even more terrifying: Directly in front of him a monster materialized. It was the most grotesque creature he had ever seen. it was tall and thick and it's skin seemed to be splitting and melting off of it at certain points. Where there was no skin a blue, glowing ooze-like flesh seemed to be bursting from within. It was smeared with blood. The vaguely humanoid beast had tentacles sprouting from a dozen spots of it's body, all of them made of that glowing blue flesh. where it's arms should have been there were two scythe-like blades. And the face was the most horrible. It looked like it had two expressions. It's humanoid terror twisted into it's "eyes" and "mouth" and it's new beast-like side a raging furious hunger. Owens did not waste any time looking at this thing. he fired about a dozen rounds from his .45 caliber lead projectile firing rife. The bullets tore it's face and body to shreds. Then it roared in fury; the wounds didn't seemed to phase it in the least. Owens frantically emptied the rest of his magazine into the monstrosity and practically turned it's head and chest into donuts. The creature finally went down.  
Owens only took a minute to think, knowing that there were probably more out there. That thing looked like a Clectian, he thought. Clectians were tall, gray humanoid creatures that were in close alliance with the Galactic federation. But that was definitely not a Clectian. What did all that to it? Some sort of new Clectian disease, maybe? Owens is a security soldier of the flagship. There are security guards, but the GF always keeps soldiers on board their flagships just in case something major happens. He was tall, had short dark brown hair and one blue and one green eye. he'd only met one other person that had that particular eye anomaly, but she died in his arms after a space pirate shot her in the back. Her name was Lorraine and it's safe to say that he loved her. But since then he has known no love, or much happiness for that matter. The pirates had turned him into a hardened warrior. And now, it looks like that aspect of himself may come in handy.  
He heard screams down ha hallway to his left, and he ran at full tilt to meet them while reloading his weapon. He entered the mess hall were he witnessed the first warzone he'd seen for three years. Owens saw nine of his men fighting off what looked like dozens of the mutant-Clectians. They all looked different, and some could even send waves what looked to him like plasma through the ground by touching their tentacles to the floor. he ran to the side of one of his comrades.  
"Need some help, Billy?" Owens shouts into his friend's ear.  
"Where the hell have you been jack?"  
"Do you know how many people have died on this ship?" Asked Owens as he mowed down a mutant.  
"We are all that's left, Owens," as Billy swooped his hand over the now seven soldiers fighting for their lives. "The rest are all dead, we were slaughtered, Jack."  
"Holy shit," Owens said, more to himself than Billy.  
Owens watched as he and his men killed dozens of the mutants and as they kept pouring into the mess hall. This is hopeless, he thought to himself. There were four humans left in the room now, and soon they would be out of ammo. And what's worse, the mutant's were growing smarter: They were ducking behind tables and corpses of their comrades for cover and weren't suicidally rushing the soldiers. Suddenly, Owens heard an ear-splitting screech behind him and turned to watch as a mutant dropped from the ceiling right in front of Billy. Owens fired three rounds into the beast and ran out of ammo. Billy seemed to have frozen in shock. Owens watched in horror as the mutant impaled his best friend trough the chest and was spattered with his warm blood. Billy was screaming now and frantically firing his weapon. the mutant cut off his futile attack by crushing his head like a melon with one of it's tentacles. In a blind rage, Owens took a baseball swing at the creatures face with the butt of his rifle. The creature retaliated similarly by hitting him across the face with the blunt side of his scythe. Owens was the only person left now, and the mutants knew it. They took a moment to revel in their victory, and then the mutant that had murdered Billy stepped toward Owens who was reeling from the creature's blow to his head and was now on the verge of blacking out. The creature seemed to laugh in a low, horrible voice and raised his scythe to deliver the final blow. There was a loud crack and a buzzing sound and Owens forced his eyes open; the mutant was now missing it's upper torso. It fell backward and as the other creature ran over and by him to the other side of the room. He thought he saw a glimpse of something shiny and metallic in the doorway before he lost consciousness. 


	2. History

Disclaimer: rights to Metroid and all things affiliated with metroid are reserved to Nintendo.  
  
History  
  
Samus could not believe what she saw in the mess hall of the flagship Corona. All through the corridors the ship was deserted, there wasn't a person to be seen. But now, in front of her, there were what looked like hundreds of corpses on the ground; some human, some not. She saw one human in the center of the room surrounded by horrible creatures that looked like mutated Clectians. One of them, standing in front of the man, was raising his blade-like forearm to deliver a fatal blow. At seeing this, Samus took no chances and fired a missile at the vile mutant; it exploded from the waist up. At that point, all of the other creatures in the room seemed to lose interest in the human and came charging at Samus. They slashed and burned and whipped her, but fortunately her chozo-made power suit was above those fairly minor attacks. using the cannon attached to her right arm, she switched to her spazer beam and slowly blew apart all of the mutants. However, even with the protection of her fully metallic suit and multiple energy tanks, the creatures were slowly wearing her down. It's like their numbers never end. She couldn't stand this much longer without taking a risk, and judging by the never ending stream monsters, it's a risk she was not willing to take. She made her way to the center of the room to the human she saw before. He wasn't moving, but he didn't look injured. Using the hydraulic muscle implants that were located at critical points in her suit, she hefted the man over her shoulder. But before she left, she was sure to say goodbye. She took a power bomb from her reserves, set the fuse for twenty seconds and ran out of the room, slamming the door shut behind her. She began dashing for her ship, she new that the creatures would find her eventually and cut off her escape. She finally found the hanger bay number 4 and climbed into her trademark gunship. She lay the man on the floor and took the controls to her craft. After she punched in the order for the craft to automatically return to the Archon she pressed the button on her cannon that deactivates her suit. And in what looked like a puff of smoke and a small hissing sound, Samus Aran was human once again.  
Owens was beginning to wake up again as Samus dragged his body through the corridors of the Archon. She threw him onto a chair on the command deck and took one for herself across from him.  
"Who are you?" he managed to cough out.  
"My name is Samus Aran, I saved you from being impaled by that mutant and carried you off the Corona. You are now on the Archon, my freighter."  
"Your Samus Aran? But, but I--never mind...," said Owens tentatively.  
"You thought I was a guy, didn't you?" Samus always enjoyed this little surprise and could not help smiling. Owens slowly nodded his head. Samus noticed his discomfort.  
"I'm Jack Owens, and sorry if I offended you."  
"No problem, I get it all the time. Listen, what do you know about those mutants?" She said.  
"Not much, only that there was no end, and that they killed all my buddies."  
"Was their any sign of intelligence?" Samus asked.  
"After a while, yeah. They took cover and stuff."  
"And stuff, huh? Was there any sign of... a hive mind maybe?" Samus almost seemed to have this rehearsed, like she knew what was going on but was trying to get confirmation from someone else.  
"What?" was all Owens could say.  
"A hive mind, you know, like they were all thinking the same thoughts at the same time."  
"I...don't know. I was just trying to stay alive, I wasn't worried about what they were thinking...why?"  
"Because I think I may know what's going on, and it's horrifying me," Samus blandly answered.  
"You know what those things were?" Owens eyes grew larger.  
"I have a hunch"  
"Well WHAT?"  
"Metroid Prime" Samus said. All Owens did was stare blankly at her.  
"You mean that thing you killed way back on Talon IV?"  
"I don't think I killed it. in fact, I fear I may have made it even stronger" Samus said while examining the floor.  
"What do you mean?" Owens asked.  
"When I fought and defeated it on Tallon IV, it was reduced to it's core form, which looked like a transparent blob with a red nucleus. I thought I had beaten it, but it still had one last ace. It sent out a tentacle and attached itself to me. But not like it wrapped it's tendril around my waist and pulled, it sent it's tentacle inside me and seemed to tug at my soul. I resisted it as hard as possible, and finally I pulled away, but the creature took my phazon suit with it into it's core. It became unstable, it started to seemingly explode and I ran out of the crater as fast as I could. You see, I thought that by it absorbing my phazon suit, it took more energy than it could handle, and detonated." She paused and took a remorseful breath of the synthetic air her ship formulates. "But I fear that my suit may have saved it, acted as a life- preserver and gave Prime something to hold onto. I fear that the "explosion" was merely the reaction of Prime taking a new form. I fear that it has fused itself with my phazon suit and is at full power once again. And now, I fear that he is forming an army for himself by corrupting other species like the Clectians to form mutants for his coming war."  
Owen's just sat there, stunned with his mouth open. He didn't know much about Metroid Prime, but he knew that he was one badass monster, and if he got more powerful and is forming an army...  
"So...what do we do now?" Owens asked.  
"We?" Samus was smiling.  
"Yeah, we. I just lost my job and witnessed my best friend brutally murdered. I've got a score to settle, and if you're going to try and stop Prime, which I'm sure you are, your going to have my help."  
"I was hoping you'd feel that way. You seem like a good warrior, you fended off all those creatures without any substantial armor almost as long as I did."  
"Well, what do we do now?" Owens repeated.  
"Hold on, I got to make a phone call." Owens watched as Samus headed for the commlink in front of the captains chair as he tried in vain to clean the mass amounts of blood off of his body and clothes.  
"Yeah, hi. It's been a while...heh, yeah...Well, it's back...No! Not the Mother Brain! Prime...Yeah I know...Well look...Hold on," she quickly glanced at her coordinates map. "Meet me at Gul 'Gen's place, All right?...All right?...Okay, outstanding... All right, see ya then...Okay...Bye." She switched off her commlink. Owens was about to ask who that was when Samus told him that it was an "old friend." Owens just nodded and went back to cleaning his face; it was now only smeared with blood and not dripping.  
"So where are we going?" Owens asked hopefully.  
"Brak-Hon, it's about ten minutes from here." Said Samus  
"What's on Brak-Hon?"  
"The last living Chozo I know of"  
"CHOZO? We're going to see a Chozo?" Owens couldn't believe what he was hearing. The Chozo were an ancient race, very advanced in technology, and also, at least he thought, very extinct.  
"Yes" Samus said simply.  
  
************************************  
  
In about ten minutes they arrived at Brak-Hon an Samus took the Archon down in a clearing. It was an ugly, swampy planet. All the trees seemed dead and the sky was a sickly shade of gray. The two humans made their through the foul smelling swamp with Samus lead the way. Owens had no idea how she knew where she was going, everything looked the same to him. The swamp on Brak-Hon was a very creepy place. There was no life to be found except for two humans and the wind constantly blew through the skeletal trees making a haunting whistling sound.  
Finally, after about forty five minutes they made it to another clearing. What Owens saw surprised him greatly, but didn't seem to phase Samus in the least. In the middle of the clearing, their was a small cottage with smoke pouring out of a chimney. They could hear laughter inside. But what was more surprising, was that there was a gunship off to the side of the clearing that looked remarkably similar to Samus's save for the fact that it was a deep shade of blue. Samus and Owens entered the cottage upon knocking and saw quite a spectacle: On one big armchair on the right sib of the room, sat a burly orange haired man with a flat-top. He was laughing heartily. And on the other side of the room, in a smaller chair, sat a short, squat bird-like creature that looked quite elderly. He was chuckling also.  
"Ah! Samus Amos! it's been months! How are you?" Even through his beak you could tell he was smiling.  
"I'm fine Old Bird, and you?"  
"oh I'm doing just fine. Armstrong was just telling me about how he accidentally wrestled with Botwoon the plasma snake on Zebes when you were trying to kill him to get deeper into Maridia."  
"Remember that Samus? it was like he was some Earthling crocodile!" The man proceeded to laugh until the room shook while Owens commenced looking at the wall and Samus glared at him like she wanted to stab him with her eyes.  
"Yeah I remember, all right! I was trying to fire a super missile at him to put him out and jumped in the way!?  
"Hey, he slammed into me! All I could do was hold on!"  
"For twenty damn minutes!?" Samus looked like she wanted to hit him. The old chozo noticed that Owens was in the room and broke the tension.  
"Who is this, Samus?" he asked.  
"Oh. This is Jack Owens. Owens, this is Gul 'Gen," she gestured to the chozo. "And this is Armstrong Houston. He is a fellow bounty hunter and an old friend," she pointed to the large man with orange hair. Houston promptly got up and shook Owens' hand with a hearty "nice to meet you," then sat back down.  
He is the only survivor of the attack on the Corona." Samus said. she knew she didn't need to say anything more. Gul 'Gen always knows what's going on and undoubtedly told Houston the situation already.  
"Jesus" Houston said under his breath.  
"I assume you came here to see if I can tell you anything about Metroid Prime you don't already know," the old chozo guessed.  
"Yeah" Owens took the liberty of saying. He was very eager to learn more about what killed his friends.  
"I can't tell you very much. For I wasn't one of the residents on Tallon IV when he arrived. But I do know this, unfortunately: The Chozo created it. Just like we created metroids." The three humans looked both absolutely stunned and like they saw it coming at the same time.  
"Why would you ever do that?" Owens said almost angrily.  
"We were simply trying to create sentient life, not creatures of doom. We created Metroid Prime in hopes of making a new race, an ally to the chozo that we ourselves created. And instead, it marked our doom. The creature began oozing a thick, blue liquid-"  
"Phazon," Samus cut in.  
"Yes. When we realized that all the monster wanted was to escaped and how deadly it could become, we tried to destroy it. I say "tried" because our attacks did nothing but make the beast stronger. After a week of these repeated attacks, Prime grew an armored exoskeleton. And now our attacks were useless. So we did the only think we could do. We shot him into space and hoped that no one would find him." The Chozo shook his head in disgust. "What irony is it that it lands to rest on Tallon IV. Our new homeworld. Being without technology and fairly uneducated, the Chozo on Tallon IV could do little as the beast began producing mass amounts of phazon and slowly killing all life on the planet. The Chozo on Tallon IV made a cipher and a seal to try to keep the creature in the crater, but it was too late. The monster they called The Worm slowly devoured everything-"  
"Wait! what did they call it?" Samus broke in suddenly.  
"They called it The Worm, why?"  
"Because in my "dream," when I saw the face of Prime, he called himself Kabraxis, and he said that all will succumb to the fury and wrath of The Worm.  
"My god." the old chozo said somberly. "Kabraxis is the endless worm from Chozo Mythology. He was labeled as the destroyer. He consumed all. This means that Metroid Prime is aware of it's surroundings. It has a personality.  
"Can you tell us how we can beat it?" Owens asked anxiously.  
"I couldn't tell you how to beat it, we may have created it but we still don't know much about it. But you could seek the counsel of some one who does.  
"Well who does know what it is and what makes it tick?" Owens was interrigating the bird now.  
"The only ones that would have sufficient knowledge of Metroid Prime's physical biology are the Space Pirates."  
"But they are all either dead or have scattered after Zebes exploded." Houston chimed in.  
"No, there is still one to be found," everyone then looked to Samus after her latest remark.  
"Who?" Houston asked, already knowing what she was thinking.  
"Ridley," was her answer. 


	3. Nemesis

Nemesis  
  
"The DRAGON?" Owens asked disbelievingly. "You can't be serious."  
"Unfortunately I am," Samus responded sadly.  
"But that's madness! isn't it? He'll kill us all, if he has the chance, right?" he gestured to Gul 'Gen and Houston, who were studying the tilework on the floor. "Right?"  
"Unfortunately, Jack, it seems to be the only way. Ridley is the only pirate who is still able to be found," Gul 'Gen stated.  
"And how may I ask is he able to be found?" Owens proposed.  
"You may not ask, I simply know where he is." Gul 'Gen was beginning to get irritated by the human's constant questioning. That's the problem with humans. They would be so much more effective if they had a little faith. The old Chozo thought.  
"Where is he now, Gul 'Gen?" Samus asked.  
"Ridley now resides on the volcanic planet of Firenzia," Gul 'Gen reported.  
"I've never heard of that planet," Houston said, which is strange, since he was an intergalactic cartographer before he joined the military and eventually went bounty hunter.  
"Is it really that surprising? If I was Ridley, I wouldn't want to be found either. he's actually quite lucky, he found a volcanic AND uncharted planet." Samus almost had a sense of disdain in her voice.  
"Well, how will we find the planet?" Owens asked.  
"I have the planet's exact coordinates, you can upload them into your ship, Samus."  
"Jeez, what don't you have?" inquired Owens.  
"A species," was all that Gul 'Gen said.  
  
**********************************************  
  
Samus, Owens, and Houston traveled through hyper-space for the next three hours until they finally made it to the black marble that is Firenzia. From space, the planet looks similar to a chink of obsidian with red dots all over it. When they landed however, they learned that the planet was much more exiting. The ground was spongy and crunched when stepped on, and no matter where you were, you could always see a volcano blowing it's top somewhere close by. The planet was exceedingly small, only as large as our solar systems Mars. And it was possible to traverse around the equator in less than a day. However, even at that size, there was still no way that they would be able to find Ridley themselves, He would have to find them himself. Which is not a problem, he most likely already knows we're here, Samus thought.  
After about an hour of walking the desolate planet's surface, they started to see hopeful signs: They saw huge three toed foot prints in the ashy ground. They saw scorch marks where there was no magma to be found. And after another thirty minutes, they hit paydirt: A large hole/cave that looked to be dug into the ground. It was about eight meters in diameter and there was no telling how deep. There also seemed to be light resonating outward from the cave.  
"Looks like we found our friend's pad," Samus said dismally. "I don't think we'll go in. He may not try to kill us if we don't walk into his house." And just as Samus said these words she felt warm clawed hands close around her bare neck; they had come unarmed, a bit risky but they wanted to avoid a battle.  
"I must say Ms. Aran, I'm impressed," a deep, raspy voice hissed. "For a female, you have balls."  
"Yeah, and if I had a dick this is where I'd tell you to suck it, Ridley," Samus retaliated.  
"Ironic, isn't it Samus, all of the times I have battled and fought you, you were able to parry all of my attacks. Aand now, here we are, and all I have to clench my fist just slightly and you would die right here and now."  
"Yes, But you won't do that. You know that Prime is among us again. And you know that if you kill me, there will be no hope in stopping it. Plus, I think you still have some honor underneath that burning hide of yours, and killing an unarmed unit on a peace mission would defile the very meaning of the word."  
Ridley's claws were still around Samus' neck. At this point, they looked to Houston and Owens. Houston had activated his very Samus-like blue armor and was pointing the arm cannon at Ridley's face. While Owens had taken out the pistol that he had secretly brought and pointed that to Ridley's demon-like mug as well.  
"It's okay, you guys. He's not gonna kill me, you can stand down," Samus said in a genuinely casual manner. At this, the fire dragon released his grip on Samus and beckoned to his cave.  
"I will not kill you all because I am aware of Metroid Prime's return. And I would like to facilitate his destruction so as to avoid all of our horrific deaths. So come into my humble cave, and we will discuss my knowledge of the biology of the creature," Ridley said in a sophisticated way.  
"You expect us to just walk into you house?" Owens asked quite rhetorically. "You could kill us with your eyes closed in there! Absolutely not, there is no way that I'm going in there."  
"You aren't very trusting, are you Jack Owens?" Ridley asked with a sneer.  
"How the hell did you know my name?" Owens tried to conceal the fear in his voice.  
"Space Pirates, led by me, attacked the Constanoga five years ago. You were on that ship, you were the only one who survived, and I never forget a face or a name, you see."  
"It's all right, Owens. you can trust him this time. We'll be okay," Samus said.  
"Fine. I'll go in. But I still will not trust him." Owen's was eyeing Ridley suspiciously when Samus noticed something.  
"Hey, where did Houston go?" she said. Armstrong Houston was nowhere to be seen. Samus suddenly chuckled to herself and started down into Ridley's cave. The other two followed, and sure enough, there was Houston sitting on a boulder deep in the cave. He had moved around a second boulder and was now making himself at home with his feet up on his makeshift ottoman. Ridley pretended that the man didn't exist and started to speak:  
"I'm guessing you came here because you know that I know more about Prime than anyone at this time," he said.  
"Something like that," Houston responded.  
"Well, from the pirates studies on the creature, this is what we have found: Metroid Prime can have a possibility of three forms. I believe that Samus is the only one, besides that Chozo of coarse, that has seen it's third form, which is a gelatinous blob-like thing with multiple tentacles. You see, Prime cannot survive in this form, it produces too much power and this form is to simple and weak to sustain it. This form is also know as it's core form. In order for Prime to survive it must take a second form, or base form. I believe that the Chozo gave Prime it's first base form, the one that Samus fought, and that it's first base for gave it it's personality. Which is why all of it's minions have those blue tentacles and some can cloak and send plasma through the ground. And finally, after coming in contact with certain materials and such, it will reach it's first form or it's acquired form. The first acquired form it took I believe was simply from shelled crustaceans on the planet where the Chozo created it. And then it assimilated weapons from us when it broke out of it's containment paddock on Tallon IV. It's acquired form never stops assimilating weapons and armor and other such things. It will continue to grow stronger with the continuation of things it comes in contact with."  
"So, how do we kill it?" Owens asked. Ignoring him, Ridley looked to Samus.  
"Ms. Aran, I believe that after you defeated Prime's bas form it latched onto you with a tentacle, what was it like?"  
"It was similar to a hunter meteoroid's siphon tentacle, only instead of sucking energy out of me, it felt like it was pulling at my soul."  
"But it got you suit instead," Ridley went on. "Well, I think we can all agree that Prime has now take Samus' phazon suit and has bonded with it to use as it's base form. Well, here is my theory: If Prime could steal Samus' suit from her, why can't Samus take it back? If she accomplishes this, Prime will be once again be stripped of it's base form, and if you STAY AWAY from it, it will die."  
"I'm impressed Ridley, very impressed," Samus said while nodding approvingly. "But may I ask, how will I be taking it back?" she asked.  
"Go back to your old bird friend, I'm sure that if he new how to find me, he could somehow make you a siphon beam of some sort for your cannon."  
"You want to come with us? you would be a good ally to have," Samus said suddenly. Ridley acted as if he was expecting this.  
"Samus, you know that, while we have battled you on a passionate level before, that most of the time I was just following orders. I would love nothing more than to make an ally out of you. We have been enemies long enough. However, I cannot help you on this mission. I'm a wanted dragon you know. if I was to come within five thousand miles of the nearest GF Space station, my cover would be blown. they would figure out that I am not dead but would be quick about fixing that. so I must remain here. but you can do this yourself. I trust that you can. And maybe someday we will meet again, and we will talk about past occurrences, and maybe beat the shit out of each other as well. But now, you must leave without me. I trust that you will tell no one about my whereabouts?"  
"Of coarse," and at that, Samus left the cave and began walking back to her ship. Stunned at what just happened, Owens simply said:  
"Well, see ya...I guess."  
"Take Care of yourself, Ridley," Said Houston, apparently unfazed by the sudden forgiveness that laced the cave.  
After about two hours, they found the Archon, just how they left it. The three humans got on board and made their way to the bridge. Once there, Samus began typing on a console beside her captains chair.  
"Set course for Brak-Hon," 


	4. Preparation

Preparation  
  
"You're back already, I see?" Gul 'Gen said as the three humans entered his cottage once again.  
"Ridley was surprisingly helpful, he gave us a very useful idea, but we need you to help us make it real, though," Samus explained.  
"What can I do for you?"  
"Well, Ridley figured that the phazon suit kept Prime alive, and he figures, as I do now, that if we can take the suit from him the way he did from me, that it would kill him," Samus finished her sentence with a simple shrug.  
"So you want me to make you a siphon beam for your arm cannon, Samus?"  
"Exactly."  
"Well, I think I could do that. However, I would need some tissue samples from a hunter metroid in order to do so."  
"What?! Are you serious? How do you expect us to just find a hunter metroid? They're all gone, remember?" Samus seemed extremely worried. She was hoping with all her might that the old Chozo would know what to do; She wasn't disappointed.  
"Don't worry, Samus there are plenty of GF research vessels scatted all over the galaxy that are studying things such as metroids and their brethren. you could find one swiftly. I trust that you will have no trouble in collecting some tissue samples."  
"Thank god. Well, can you list off a few ships so we can get moving?"  
  
"Of coarse. at this point there are three ships that are currently studying metroid biology. The Castegen, the Moraukas, and the Zetox-"  
"The Zetox?" Owens suddenly inquired.  
"Yes, why?" Owens didn't bother answering Gul 'Gen's question.  
"Let's go to that one, I'll explain why later," and with that, Owens walked out of the cottage and toward the direction of the Archon.  
"Well, I guess we're going to the Zetox," Houston Said. And after thanking Gul 'Gen one more time, Houston and Samus Followed Owens back to there ship.  
  
****************************************************  
  
Through Hyper drive it took them about a half hour to reach the Zetox. None of them had ever even seen what a Galactic Research Vessel, or GRV looked like. The most noticeable attribute about the GRV was that it was gigantic. it looked to be the size of a small town. In fact, that's almost what it looked like: a town resting on a circular propulsion system. Once they docked with the GRV in one of it's five hundred hangar bays, they were led to a room called "CPO Quarters." Inside, they found a man sitting at a large table. He was smoking a pipe. His name was Gregory Mishka, and he was the Chief Project Observer, which basically means that he runs the show on the Zetox. He looked to be in his mid sixties, and he had that look about him that made you think that he has everything under control, no matter how hey-wire things actually were.  
"So what can I do for you people?" He said from behind his graying beard in a slight southern twang.  
"I'm guessing that you already know about what's going on with Metroid Prime?" Samus asked.  
"Well, do I look like I live under a rock?" he didn't look like that at all.  
"Good, because I have an idea about how I might be able to take him out." Samus was already beginning to dislike this man.  
"And how do you plan to do you plan to do that, sweet-pea?" Now Samus absolutely hated him.  
"I need a tissue sample from a hunter metroid," Samus was already beginning to work out a plan on how to steal it because this man was certainly not going to just hand it over.  
"Well why certainly, anything to help. If you follow me right now I'll lead you to the metroid research sector and we can get you your sample." Samus, Owens and Houston were all stunned.  
"Your just gonna give it to us? No red tape or anything?" Owens was suspicious as usual.  
"Of coarse, but on one condition: you must promise met that you will destroy the sample as soon as you are done with it, if it were to fall into the wrong hands it could be disastrous." Maybe I misjudged this man... Samus thought.  
So it goes the Mishka led the three of them into the metroid sector. What Samus saw brought back a flood of memories. Memories of the Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Zeta, Omega and Queen evaluations of the metroids on SR-388. memories of the different breeds of metroids like the hunter metroids and the fission metroids she saw on Tallon IV. And memories of the metroid hatchling, who saved her life less than a year ago on Zebes. She suddenly snapped out of her daydreaming when she saw Mishka handing her something: It was a test tube filled with a red, gelatinous substance.  
"Well, here you are, use it well," said a smiling Mishka.  
"Eh...th-thanks," Samus managed to say.  
They were just exiting the metroid sector when Owens suddenly said that there was something he needed to do before they departed. So before anybody could inquire what this deed actually was, he broke off into a jog and headed in another direction of the ship. Houston and Samus shrugged this off and continued walking. After about ten minutes, the alarms sounded:  
"GRV UNDER ATTACK---ALL NON-MILITARY PERSONNEL EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY."  
"Goddammit, he found us!" Houston yelled to no one in particular. They began running full tilt toward the hangar where the Archon was located. The two of them simultaneously activated their armor as they ran. Suddenly, Samus broke off from Houston and began running down a different corridor. Houston didn't even notice until about a minute after. Samus continued running down this random corridor not having any idea where it led or even why she was running through it. But it was out of her control, she couldn't stop, no matter how hard she tried. It was as if she was not in control of her own body. Suddenly, she stopped, but she still couldn't move. And then, the terrifying voice that she heard in her dreams boomed in her head:  
"Ah, Aran. At last I find you"  
"What do you want from me?" Samus said out loud, trying desperately to contain her fear.  
"You know what I want; I want to be free again, I want this...this mental link to be severed. I want to kill you."  
"But why do you need to kill me?"  
"Do you not think that I know what you are planning to do? However futile and pointless your attacks would be on me even with your Siphon Beam you are still the only one in this galaxy who poses any form of a threat to me, and I cannot let that be. Once I kill you, there will be no one that can stop me. Now if you will excuse me Aran, this occlementic control is tiresome. I bid you my farewells." And to her own horror, Samus completely lost control of her body. She couldn't even scream as her arm cannon was lifted to her head and began to charge. Samus closed her eyes and waited for the death blow to vaporize her head. An ear piercing screech was heard and Samus vaguely felt he arm cannon slammed away from her head. It fired and a super missile destroyed part of the wall next to her. She was lifted forcefully off the ground and was slammed into the wall three feet from the floor. Samus opened her eyes and stared into the glowing yellow eyes of her nemesis, Ridley.  
"LET HER GO, PRIME!" He shouted directly into Samus's face. She felt herself begin to talk, but not in her voice, it was the voice of The Worm.  
"I Should have killed you when I had the chance, Dragon!" Ridley squeezed on Samus/Prime's throat and allowed his hand to catch fire with his rage.  
"I know this hurts, let her go," Ridley said, now sounding more calm, but still looking more furious than Samus had ever seen him, which is one hell of a feat.  
"You could have joined me, I gave you the option. We could have ruled this galaxy together."  
"I am tired of being known as The Scourge of the Galaxy, Prime. I already hate myself, I figured I'd try to do some good for this godforsaken galaxy for once." Samus seemed to be watching all this from far away, like she was looking down on this spectacle from clouds that didn't exist. She felt herself drifting away, she was dying. Ridley knew this and frantically began slamming her body against the metal wall, trying to shake Prime out of her body. The voice of Prime screamed outward from Samus's throat; it couldn't hide it's agony any longer.  
"I will see you again, Dragon. I will never forget this." Samus' Body suddenly went limp and Ridley gently caught her in his arms. She was still alive, but unconscious. The Fire Dragon gathered her body in his arms and began running toward the hangar where the Archon was located. If it's still there, he thought to himself. 


	5. Seperation

Disclaimer: rights to Metroid and all things affiliated with metroid are reserved to Nintendo.  
  
Separation  
  
Ridley laid Samus on the floor in the command deck of the Archon. Houston and Owens, who were already there, thought she was dead since she was not moving. The skeletal dragon looked up and saw the humans horror struck faces and waved a clawed hand at them.  
"She'll be fine, don't worry," Ridley felt like answering questions, not telling a story. he wasn't disappointed.  
"Well what happened, why is she knocked out?" Owens asked.  
"Prime was able to tap into her mind and partially take it over. she almost killed herself under his influence. Fortunately I got there in time to stop it happening."  
"This is all my fault, I didn't even notice that she was gone. I owe her more then that," Houston sounded miserable, and hung his head in shame. Ridley was quite sickened by this. if there was one thing he hated more than Samus's ice beam, it was guilt.  
"Oh shut up, just...shut up. It wasn't your fault. you couldn't have stopped it anyhow."  
"Well what makes you so special?" Owens demanded. The dragon let out a sound similar to a sigh.  
"When Prime went berserk and broke out of it's paddock on Tallon IV, the pirates called in the security team. Now, do you remember who the chief of security was?" He didn't wait for an answer to his rhetorical question. "When it broke out it began assimilating various objects. Weapons, computers, various pirates, and me. because I was so strong at the time I managed to survive the ordeal, but I was unwillingly bonded to prime from then on. Similar to Samus," He gestured to the body on the floor. "this is why I was able to get here in time to save her, and it is also why I was able to cause pain to prime from a mental link. so to answer your question, Jack, I'm special because I could hurt Prime because I'm linked to it, and Houston is not," he waited a moment to see if there were anymore questions; there weren't, so he prompted one of his own: "Houston, can you get us to Brak-Hon? Samus won't be up for about an hour, and we don't have that long."  
"...Uh...yeah, ...sure," Houston stammered as he set a course for Brak-Hon on the navigational console by the captain's chair.  
  
*******************************************  
  
The Worm grows stronger... It will consume all...consume...consume...  
It cannot be stopped... it is...inevitable... consume...  
It grows closer to it's destination... it will... consume!  
All will...Perish! The... others will... CONSUME!  
Kabraxis... will... consume...consume! CONSUME!  
  
"CONSUME!" Samus was bolt upright in her bed. She was screaming again, except now she was screaming words. She put a hand to her head, she was in a cold sweat. She also had no idea where she was. it was pitch black. The lights flicked on, full blast, and Samus was blinded for a second.  
"You have them too, huh?" Samus Shrieked again and yanked the laser pulse pistol from under her pillow. She aimed it directly at her old nemesis' smiling face, who was standing right in her bedroom.  
"What the hell are you doing here?" She demanded a little too loudly.  
"Oh, just making sure you don't do anything rash, like kill yourself while under the influence of a certain worm," Ridley retorted a little too casually. At hearing this, Samus fell back on her bed, suddenly remembering what had happened back on the SRV.  
"So that really did happen?" she said, almost inaudibly.  
"Unfortunately, do you remember completely?"  
"Unfortunately."  
"We will be at Brak-Hon in ten minutes, you couldn't have woken up at a better time."  
"So, what, You're part of the team now?"  
"I guess. Hell maybe I'll stay for a while, do some useful things for a change. Maybe I'll even have my life-long dream fulfilled..."  
"Which is what?" Samus asked incredulously.  
"To have an action figure of myself made, of coarse." and with that, Ridley walked out of the room, leaving a Samus Aran laughing until her sides pained her."  
And so, the odd foursome, which included the blonde, the lumberjack, the soldier, and the scourge of the galaxy, walked once more into the little home of the old Chozo known as Gul 'Gen .  
"Samus, are you all right?" he looked very worried.  
"I'm fine, thanks to Skelator, here," she gestured to the dragon.  
"How did you, oh nevermind," Owens said.  
"Well, did you get the sample?" The old bird asked. Samus handed him the vial that contained the hunter metroid tissue. "Ah, excellent. Yes, I'm sure I could fix you up something along the lines of a "Siphon Beam." but it will take at least a few weeks, so keep checking in and I'll give you updates on the project. If it's all right, I'd like to borrow the services of Armstrong to help work with me on this project. I'd invite all of you to stay, but it would be too risky for you to stay in one place, Samus. Oh, and I also need your arm cannon, so you are going to be extra careful. Ridley and Owens will have to act as your bodyguards until the project is finished; it is imperative that you survive Samus, you are our only hope."  
Samus hadn't even thought about the fact that she would have to relinquish her cannon, and it left her very nervous, it was like giving you credit card number out to a stranger. However, after a moment, she slowly punched in the line of code into the mini console on her cannon telling it to unattach itself to her arm. She handed it to the bird, who laughed.  
"Do you forget that cannon must weigh over thirty pounds? just put it on that table over there, if you will." Samus obliged and looked at her trusty gun longingly, she felt naked. Gul 'Gen noticed her anxiety and attempted in vain to console her. "Samus, don't worry. You'll be fine. You have two great warriors looking after you. And you will be reunited with you gun in not too long of a time. Just try to relax and stay out of trouble." Samus didn't feel very relaxed.  
"Well, I guess we better get going, the longer we stay here, the longer it will take you to make a new weapon. Right?" Owens piped up.  
"He's right, Samus, we should go," The dragon said.  
"I know, it just feels weird to be unarmed."  
"Well, technically, you still have your bombs and your grapple beam," Houston said. "And you could always take up a rifle for once."  
"True, but you know how I feel."  
"Yeah"  
"Well... Uh, bye, I guess." Owens said awkwardly. And the once four but now three walked out of the cottage and on to the Archon once again.  
  
******************************************  
  
Ridley had suggested that they go back to his planet, that no one, including Prime, had found him yet. And so they went to the volcanic planet once more. It was near midnight when their coarse had been set, and by that time all three of them were physically and mentally wrecked, especially Samus, so they all said their goodnights and went to their quarters to get some much deserved sleep. Samus was having a pleasant dream for once. She was dreaming about the metroid hatchling. It was nuzzling her and playfully nipping her arm with it's four sharp teeth. How it seemed to think that she was it's mother, and how it seemed to love her so much. She still had much regret, she wished that she had never turned the hatchling over to the GF, and then maybe... just maybe it would still be alive today. she dreamed it following her as she fought the space pirates, growing stronger, becoming a warrior, like her, as she guides it. and maybe it could have helped her even now, as she fights Prime. And maybe even-  
There was a loud crash and the whole frigate shook and rocked violently. Her door swung open and Ridley ran in. Samus was awake instantly.  
"What's going on? Are we under attack?"  
"Oh, that's just the beginning. Prime knew where we were going! he already has a huge fleet bastioned at Firenzia!"  
"WHAT?" Samus was already out of bed and activating her armor.  
"See for yourself." Samus looked out her window: Ridley was right indeed, there where battleships everywhere around Firenzia.  
"Well, we have to get this ship in hyperdrive! we need to get to the command deck!"  
"It's too late, it would take too long to power up the warp engines. Besides, they're already inside," He was right, Samus could hear the mutants running around in her ship, looking for her.  
"Why haven't they already just blown the whole ship up?"  
"Hell if I know. Let's just get to the hangar, it doesn't look like they've found that yet either, thank God."  
"God? your a Christian?"  
"Now's not the time Samus, let's go. I'll discuss the my beliefs in religion later." They began running through the corridors. Ridley in front, Samus close behind. She was unarmed since she had forgotten her pistol under her pistol.  
"Where's Owens?" Samus asked while running to keep up with the tireless dragon.  
"I have no idea, he wasn't in his quarters when I checked," as a period to this sentence, three mutants turned the corner to face them. These ones were different, and even more terrifying, if that's possible. Samus was trying to figure out what was different about the when Ridley roared in fury and engaged in combat with all three at the same time. It was no contest. Two of the three mutants shrieked and ran at Ridley with there blades and tendrils raised. They slashed at the dragon, but their attacks never made contact with him. The great Fire Dragon incinerated the two creatures with his flaming breath and they promptly blew away as ashes. The remaining mutant raised it's tentacles and launched a huge bolt of flaming plasma through the ground at Ridley; it was just as effective as stabbing a tank with a blunt pencil. The flaming attack splashed off of Ridley and sparked around the corridor. The Dragon retaliated by impaling the foule creature with his tail, and when it wouldn't die, he commenced slamming the mutant against the steel walls of the corridor until it was nothing but a pile of organic jelly. Ridley let out a triumphant growl and began running once again.  
"It feels good to ill something again." He said while running. I wish I could. Samus thought.  
As they ran for the hangar bay and towards Samus' gunship they encountered dozens more of those mutants, all of which Ridley dispatched easily and gleefully. He seemed to be enjoying himself to an almost frightful level. When they were about three quarters of the way to the hangar Ridley suddenly seemed to have a convulsion. He fell to hiss knees and grabbed his head and shrieked until Samus thought his lungs would be ripped to shreds.  
"...It's not...not...it's not you he's after..." The dragon looked terrified, and this scared Samus even more. "He's trying to... Take me!..."  
"What? What the hell are you talking about? Prime's cracking into your mind? Ridley? RIDLEY!?"  
"He knows... that he can't get to you... if I'm... here." He seemed to struggle with every word. "So he's trying to use me... to get... get... to... you." He let out a shriek of agony. The red dragon started to pulsate with a light blue glow. A blue ooze began seeping from his body. "Samus.... I do not have... much... time left... I can't... fight it. it's to... strong... You must go. run... as fast as you can... get away from me! Run to the... Hangar and do not... look back!"  
"NO!" Samus yelled. "You can fight it! Your than him! Ridley FIGHT IT!" But it was too late. Ridley's eyes began to change color. They changed from their natural fiery yellow glow to a cold, menacing blue. "GO NOW SAMUS!!!" But Samus couldn't move. She was terrified. Absolutely terrified. She had never been this scared before, the most powerful creature she ever known was being overpowered before her eyes. She had no weapon, and she had no one to help her. She couldn't escape. She was going to die Right here. At the hands of the one she had put her life in. Ridley looked at her with his unnatural cold, blue eyes, and roared a terrifying, unnatural, mutant, roar. He raised his head and inhaled, Samus could see the burning plasma foaming in his jaws. She heard an explosion, and saw the Pseudo-Ridley knocked forward, it staggered, but did not fall. It turned around, and what she saw brought her out of her mental stupor and back to reality.  
"Samus, Run! Get to the hangar! I'll hold him off until you get out of here! Now RUN!!!" It was Owens. He was dressed in a very advanced set of armor. It was bleached white and was plated with strong looking material. his head was covered with a streamlined helmet that had a jet black visor. In his hand, he held his favorite .45 caliber copper/lead projectile firing assault rifle, only now, it was outfitted with a smoking grenade launcher. When Samus saw this, she gave a silent thanks and made her final dash for the hangar. As she ran, she heard gunshots and explosions, roaring and yelling. They grew fainter as she ran. She met several mutants on her way, but she just ran past them. They dashed behind her, launching plasma at her. She finally made it to the hangar and made a desperate dash to her ship, she was pitifully low on energy and the mutants were continuing to fire at her. She half climbed, half fell into her ship and activated it's engines. She set a coarse on the navigational console and used the last bit of strength she had to hit the hyper-drive switch and she watched the stars around her blur as her ship sped up to the speed of light. Her last thoughts before she passed out were of what Owens had done for her, and how much gratitude she felt for him.  
  
*****************************************  
  
The Archon falling apart the great battle between the soldier and the possessed dragon had destroyed a part of the ship dangerously close to the reactor core. And now the reactor has become unstable. Explosions rocked the freighter and sparks flew everywhere. A door opened in the escape pod docking room. A figure limped inside. The figure was clad in a white plated armor, and he carried an assault rifle with an attached grenade launcher. Jack Owens stepped inside an escape pod and activated the launch sequence. The pod popped out of the side of the dying ship and floated into space. The area was now deserted, after Samus and Ridley fled from the scene, the rest of the Mutant fleet followed suit. Owens dropped his gun and took a deep breath. He looked out of the small porthole at the Archon. It was going critical. Shockwaves were radiating from the carcass. It broke in half, and then the reactor could take no more. In a brilliant flash of light, the ship exploded and sent the small escape pod rocking violently, but it held. Owens found the rocking relaxing, and immediately fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.  
  
*Author's Notes: Well, that was a doozie. I stayed up until 2 in the morning writing that sucker. But I think it was worth it. I feel that was my best chapter yet. But I still would like to know what you think. so as always, please R&R and let me know I'm doing, thanks for reading! 


	6. War

War  
  
Samus woke up lying on the cold floor of her ship. She was still wearing her armor. She took one glance around the inside of her gunship and realized what had happened. She wished she had never woken up. She saw visions of Ridley fighting with all his power, trying desperately to shove the vile worm out of his skull. She saw visions of the dragon losing this battle, and then turning to look at her with a blind, primal fury. A mindless rage. This was something Samus had never seen in Ridley before. He may be a monster, and a vicious one at that, but he was intelligent nonetheless, and never did he look so much like an animal as he did at that moment. It terrified her. She then remembered the explosion, and the urgent words of her new comrade Owens telling her to run, bringing her out of her stupor. He sacrificed himself for me. She thought. the only time anyone had ever willingly sacrificed themselves for her was the metroid hatchling. This was almost to much for her to bear. This mission was proving to be the hardest she ever undertook simply by emotion. Samus was near tears. She wasn't used to the salty fluid welling up in her eyes, she couldn't even remember the last time she had cried. She fought to hold the tears back, and after a minute or two, they subsided. She had just lost two very important allies and friends, but she wasn't about to just let go and cry her troubles away. No, there was still a mission that needed completing, and she was damn sure it was going to be completed now. She stood up, deactivated her armor, stretched a little, and then gazed out the large, visor like windshield of her ship. She looked at the familiar swampy landscape and thanked her ship once again for not failing her. She stepped outside onto the muddy ground of Brak-Hon and made her way back to a certain Chozo and a certain meathead were toiling to make her a new weapon.  
"So how are we going to turn it into energy?" The certain meathead asked Gul 'Gen.  
"We don't need to turn it into anything, the energy is already in the tissue, we just need to harness it somehow." He replied.  
"Well, How're we gonna do tha-Samus?" Houston's head quickly jerked in the direction of where his friend was had just entered the cottage.  
"Oh my, wh-what are you doing back so soon, Samus?" The old bird looked quite troubled.  
"It took Ridley."  
"No," Gul 'Gen said and fell back into his small arm chair.  
"What are you talking about, Samus?" Houston seemed to already know, but not wanting to believe it.  
"Metroid Prime...Kabraxis, has taken mental and physical possession of Ridley."  
"Oh my God." Houston breathed.  
"Where's Jack?" Gul 'Gen asked.  
"...He's...dead." She looked to the floor. He sacrificed his life for me. I witnessed Prime take Ridley. I watched him struggle and lose it. It was horrible. Ridley was going to incinerate me when Owens fired a grenade into his back, distracting him. He made it possible for me to escape at the cost of his life. I don't know where Ridley is now." She ran her hands through her long blonde hair.  
"My God..." Houston repeated.  
"I think it would be best if you remained here with us during our research, so as you may defend yourself if an attack is made. Samus simply nodded in agreement. Wherever Owens was, she hoped that he was feeling no pain.  
  
**********************************************  
  
Owens was jarred awake as his head slammed against the wall of his escape pod.  
"SON OF A BITCH!" It hurt like one, too. He rubbed his head fiercely while hissing curses through his teeth. After the pulsating began to subside, he decided to look out the window. Well, that explains why I just pile-drived the ceiling... The escape pod was going onto re-entry. He was landing. The planet looked very deserted, but hospitable as well. He had no idea what planet it was exactly, but who cares? It looked to him like a Class VIII Multi-Ecosystem Biodome planet, which basically means: This planet was just like Earth, only a hell of a lot bigger. About ten minutes later, the pod activateed it's repulse thrusts full blast and slowed the decent to the planets surface. Owens had never landed in an escape pod before, but something told him that the landing may not be the smoothest ever. He quickly lay down as best as he could on the floor of the pod and grabbed the railings so hard his knuckles were turning white under his armor. He prepared for impact. However, nothing could prepare him for the atrocity that this bucket of tungsten and steel called a landing. All of a sudden, out of no where, he heard a great BOOM, and at the same time was thrown to the ceiling of the pod, slamming his head again, along with the rest of his body, after what a few seconds that seemed like hours, he fell back down to the floor of the pod banged his forehead. Why, OH WHY, did I take my helmet off? He sat there cursing for a good ten minutes and rubbing his battered and abused skull. When the pain slightly went away, he managed to run a diagnostic of the atmosphere of the planet. 70% NITROGEN...20% OXYGEN...7% CARBON DIOXIDE...3% OTHER-HARMLESS. Owens was as elated as his throbbing head allowed him to be; this planet had air!  
He brought his rifle to his back, where his suit grabbed the but, trigger and barrel with special clasps, he still hadn't gotten used to the way it's suit sensed when a weapon needed to be harnessed. But then again, it is the most advance combat armor made by humans. He threw on his helmet, activated his onboard radar, and set out onto this unknown planet's surface. He was on a beach, a very beautiful one at that. the sky was blue and clear save for a few wispy clouds. To his left, endless ocean. To his right, a thick green forest. He could here exotic birds he had never heard before. And for the first time in over twenty years, he smelled the ocean. It was warm. He checked his wrist console and it said it was eighty five degrees Fahrenheit. He was just thinking of maybe going for a swim in the ocean, when his visor began yelling at him.  
"Familiar technology detected...Terran research base 9.4 miles north- east." Owens was greatly relieved from a thought he hadn't even considered yet. He hadn't even realized that he could be stuck here forever. But thankfully there was a base not too far from here, and hopefully they will at least have some sort of intergalactic communication method. He vowed to himself to go swimming in the ocean at some point, but considered it of more importance to find the research base. Hopefully he won't run into anything hostile on the way there or even when he gets to the base.  
He began walking east, which happened to be in the direction of the forest, and what a forest it was. The entire planet seemed to be dominated by plants. He saw the occasional bird here and there. The trees were enormous. Some were seven feet in diameter and so tall that Owens couldn't even see the tops. Every once and a while he would here rustling in the under brush, but he tried to ignore it. At around the half-way point, he was suddenly thrown to the ground. He felt his rifle being ripped from his suit, he heard it thump to the ground a few feet away. Owens quickly jumped to his feet and stood to face quite a sobering sight: Less than a foot away from him was a monster. It was at least eight or nine feet tall. It looked to have the rare ability to be quadruped or completely bipedal. It was reptilian. Owens thought it looked kind of like a dragon, but different. The creature was slim and muscular. On the end of it's feat and hands were long, fierce looking talons, and on it's fore-arm's hands there seemed to be possible thumbs. The creature was beautifully colored: It was mostly black, but on it's back it had stripes of blue and it's arms and legs were dipped in brown coloring. It's head was very interesting. It had a crest on the back of it's head similar to a duck-billed dinosaur's. The crest was deep blue. The rest of it's reptilian head and snout was jet black, and it's large eyes were bright blue with slits for pupils. Owens definitely saw intelligence through those eyes. And the strange thing was, while Owens was examining the creature, it seemed to be doing the same to Owens. The Reptile craned it's head in different ways to get a better look at Owens. It did not attack however, and for that Owens was grateful. All of a sudden, the creature reached forth with it's clawed hands toward Owens' head. Owens activated his wristblades and they slid out from both sides of both hands. The creature took no notice. It then wrapped it's hands around Owens' neck and began feeling around with it' "fingers" it apparently found what it was looking for. Owens heard a click and he muttered "no" and the creature removed the human's helmet. Owens was a little nervous now, with his most vulnerable area exposed and those razor sharp talons inches from his throat. But for some reason, he also felt calm, like he knew that this beast was not going to harm him. The Reptile poked Owens' face with it's claws gently, so as not to break the skin. It made a sort of purring sound. Without warning, the Reptile shoved Owen's in the chest, knocking him to the ground, the human quickly jumped to his feet again. The creature then unfurled it's wings, wings that Owens didn't even know it possessed until just then. They were black with simetrical swirls of blue, and they were bat-like. They reminded Owens of Ridley's wings, only less tattered. It flapped them a few times, throwing a power breeze toward Owens, and then folded them back up again. It just stood there, looking at Owens and Owens looking at it. Owens decided that he had seen enough, and he turned and began walking east once more. About five minutes later, he heard the familiar rustling behind him. He stopped and slowly turned around, there was the Reptile; it was following him.  
"Oh, for Christ's sake. What do you want?" The creature just looked at him and purred. "You know what? Fine. You want to follow me? Fine. But the first time you look at me like you want to eat me, I'm going to find out what color you blood is, got it?" The Reptile purred in agreement.  
So the two of the walked for the next four miles until Owens literally walked right into the research base, banging his head yet again, fortunately this time he had his helmet on though.  
"Well, I guess this is it. It looks deserted, what do you think?" He looked back at the Reptile, and it purred. As Owens mocked the creature's purring as he checked the door leading into the complex: not only was it unlocked, the door was wide open. The unlikely duo walked inside the base. The Reptile seemed to grow more cautious, however.  
"Do you know anything about this place?" Owens asked expecting a purr for an answer, but none came. All of the lights were on, the place seemed to be in perfect order, in fact, he saw a soft drink spilled on the floor. "Well, whatever happened to this place didn't happen very long ago." He reached behind him and drew his rifle. The two of them walked slowly and cautiously, checking corridors and labs. The Reptile was already making a very useful ally, despite the fact that it couldn't speak. It would go off and search a lab and Owens would search another, they would meet again in the hallway and express what they found through facial expressions, and then continue. Most of what they found was what would be expected from a planet like this: all botanical. they saw plant tissue in test tubes they saw chemicals from plants, but nothing out of the ordinary. However, eventually, they came to a big lab. The entire room was pattered with red blood, but there were no bodies. And on the right side of the room, there were large Cryotubes designed for holding humanoid specimens. They were all utterly destroyed, smashed open, seemingly from the outside. the life support amniotic fluid spilled all over the floor. He would have checked the computer terminals about what was store in those tubes, But all of the consoles were destroyed. Owens checked again to see if his rife was caulked and ready, which it was. The two of them backed out of the lab and continued on their way.  
They made it to the security station, of which Owens was glad, now he would be able to find what really had happened at this base. Or did he really want to know? No matter, he had to know. He looked to his silent companion  
"Well...Here we go." Owens Backed up the security tapes to an hour before and watched.  
  
****One Hour Earlier****  
  
All was silent in the lab. General William Mathiews gazed at the nine Cryotubes in front of him. They held very beautiful reptiles in them. All of which had umbilical lines protruding from them, feeding them nutrients. A younger scientist walked up beside him.  
"How are they doing?" Matheiws asked the scientist, still looking at the tubes. The younger scientist seemed nervous.  
"The Rippars? Oh they're fine, fine. They're all showing incredible potential, but Subject Chi, however-"  
"What about Subject Chi? Is it ill?" The General cut the young man off.  
"No! no, quite the opposite! Subject Chi is the pick of the litter, General. His cerebral capabilities have nearly gone off the chart! our brain wave monitors have been jumping all over the place, and recently, the monitors have stopped responding completely when we attach them to Subject Chi."  
"Well, what does that mean?"  
"We think it means that it has developed a mental block, so that we can't enter it's mind."  
"Isn't that a bad thing?" The General suspicious.  
"We don't think so, it hasn't shown any signs of aggression."  
"If you say so, Rockford." Mathiews seemed eager to dismiss a possible flaw in the project. "Do you have any of idea what caused this mental explosion in Subject Chi but no others.?"  
"No, we think it's just a biological anomaly. The genetic studies we are doing here are still quite experimental, general. We don't know exactly what they will always do."  
Suddenly, the room began flashing red. The alarms were sounding.  
"BASE UNDER ATTACK...ALL NON-MILITARY PERSONNEL EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY." There wasn't enough time, within seconds the room that General Mathiews and Rockford were standing in was flooded with the familiar mutated creatures that have spawned From Metroid Prime. They began slaughtering everyone. Rockford was slashed by one of the creatures in the abdomen and he died slowly bleeding to death on the floor. The General was much more lucky, he was simply decapitated. When all the People in the room were killed, the mutants dragged the bodies off to be assimilated. All was quiet for about a minute, and then a shadow appeared in the door. The figure walked slowly into the lab. It was thick and humanoid, about ten feet tall. The figure was black with red, pulsating lines running across it's body. It seemed to have an aura, like a heat blur. It's face was jet black with nothing but an obsidian shiny visor in the middle. Metroid Prime walked to the center of the lab and turned to face the Cryotubes. Nine shiny black tentacles sprouted from Prime's back. And in one quick motion, he lashed out at all nine tubes at the same time, almost too fast to see. All the Cryotubes simultaneously shattered, and nine winged reptiles fell to the ground, all covered with slime. Prime held out his hand, and eight of the reptiles stood up shrieking in agony. The ninth Rippar simply lay on the ground, growling menacingly. Prime walked toward the Rippar still on the ground, and the reptile slashed at the black figure with it's talons. Prime batted the clawed hand away and grabbed the reptile by the throat. He pulled the Rippar up to his level and stared into it's face; the Rippar stared right back, with no fear in it's eyes. Prime threw the reptile into the wall to his right with a brutal metallic clang. He then turned around, and incinerated all computer terminals in the room by sending multiple plasma waves through the ground. Prime walked out of the lab, leaving the Rippar that had defeated him lying lifeless beside the wall which he had been thrown into. The other reptiles followed The Worm as he left the research base.  
  
****Present Time****  
  
Owens could not believe what he had just seen. He just sat in the security guard's chair watching the monitor of the Rippar lab up until he saw himself and his companion reenter the lab. Once he saw this, he found his voice again.  
"So you fought Prime. You mentally defeated Metroid Prime. I don't believe it." Owens sat there some more. Just thinking. "Will you come with me to Brak-Hon? I know my friend Samus will be there. She probably thinks I'm dead right now. I know it must be hard for you. But will you help us fight Metroid Prime?" The Reptile shoved Owens like before and he went rolling into the opposite wall on the wheels of his chair. "Thank you." And almost like a period to his sentence, the commlink sputtered to life:  
"This is Boston Air Defense to Brinstar Research base. Brinstar, do you copy?" Owens grabbed the commlink.  
"This is Corporal Jack Owens of Brinstar Research Base. Go ahead, Boston."  
"Who's in charge there, Corporal?"  
"No one, sir. Prime ransacked the place, killed everyone and stole test subjects."  
"Oh, Christ." Owens heard gunshots and explosions on the other end.  
"What's going on there?" Owens asked.  
"We're under attack, Corporal! Prime was declared war on us, and is beginning his assault of the Galactic Federation on Earth!"  
"He's on Earth! Dear god!" Just then a loud boom was heard on the other end of the commlink, and then a scream cut off his connection to his race's homeworld. He looked to his companion, who looked equally horror struck (Owens was beginning to think he understood English) and said "Let's get to the hangar."  
They began running as fast as they could in the direction of the base's hangar. After about ten minutes of running, they came to the armory. Owens decided to go in.  
"Well, Chi, it looks like I won't be running out of ammo any time soon." He added a laser sighting to his rifle, and also a scope that gave his automatic a single fire function. He saw a small white cylinder with a flat side that had been labeled: MERCURY SHIELDING. He picked it up. It was bleach white, just like his armor... He looked on the flat side of the cylinder: it was covered with hundreds of little gold spikes. Something clicked in his mind. The wrist port! He looked at the top of his left wrist where it was flat and covered with hundreds of tiny holes. Without thinking any further, he attached the cylinder to his left wrist and the words "Mercury Shielding Acquired" appeared in his visor. Owens felt slight coldness as shiny liquid metal spread from the cylinder and covered his entire body in seconds. He couldn't see. But, just as quickly as it came, the mettle retracted back into his wrist.  
"Hit me," Owens said to Chi. The reptile hesitated. "Hit me!" Chi then obliged. He slashed at Owens' arm with his talons, but just as the claws made contact with the human's arm, the metal seeped out of the armor and protected the arm, Chi's attack just sparked and glanced off the protected human. "Very nice..." Owens was about to leave the armory when he spied a thick folder on the ground. he picked it up and noticed it was labeled "Rippar Biology." He thumbed through the documents reading certain bits and pieces: "...after genetic adjustments, natural kinetic breath attribute strengthened considerably..." "can fly at speeds between mach 1 and mach 2..." "hide very tough, can withstand the full force of-"  
"My God," Owens as he put the document into one of the compartments in his armor. he quickly drew his rifle and fired a single shot into Chi's chest. The Rippar was taken aback and drawn back a couple of steps, but was unharmed. "Amazing..." Chi snarled angrily at Owens. Once the human said he was sorry the two of them ran for the hangar. they reached it in less than a minute. Prime had take almost all of the ships and other vehicles, but there were still three left: Two shuttles and a long range fighter. Owens hopped into the fighter with Chi and set a course for Brak-Hon. All he could do was hope that they hadn't already lost the war by the time he got there... 


End file.
